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6.10.12

{31 for 21} The Lao Happy Meal

Those of you who are long time Navagating fans know that Nava was an amazing eater. There is really very little she would not eat from age 9 months to 2 years. You'll note she is two and a half now. Amazing eater of diverse foods? Not so much these days.

::cue sad music::

Like most toddlers, she has gotten picky. And like most toddlers, she now has days where she barely eats. Just plain not hungry. Again, long time Navagating fans will be shocked. This has been a big adjustment for us. We just didn't have the "feed picky eater" skill set around here before.

We are quick studies however. You have to be in a place with no McDondalds or KFC. And I thought I'd share what's on the menu these days at Casa Nava. It's the worldwide favorite standby you find in almost every culture: Chicken and Rice. Thais have Kao Man Gai. Singaporeans love their Chicken Rice, and of course there's Arroz Con Pollo but Lao has this version:

Part A: Rice. Specifically Sticky Rice. Reeeeallllllllly Sticky Rice. The rice traditionally eaten in Laos is steamed, not boiled, and is eaten by hand, torn off in chunks. You simply can't eat it with chopsticks or a spoon. I know, I've seen bewildered tourists try. 99.999999% of children love sticky rice-its chewy rice you eat with your hands, what's not to love?

got rice?

Part B: Chicken. Specifically Grilled Chicken. Marinated in tumeric amongst other spices and flayed between a split bamboo stick and grilled on the barbeque, purchased on the side of the road, wrapped in a banana leaf. Bamboo and banana leaf makes for a very green take out wrapper, if you ignore the plastic stack it all gets handed to you in ;)

4 comments:

Mmmmm...looks delicious!! Samantha is a real pain-in-the-backside eater, too. When she was 2 or 3, she didn't want to try anything new. And, with so little time and my work schedule getting me home close to her bed time, anything that's mass-produced, frozen and microwaved is a good bet for her. Like fish sticks, chicken nuggets, etc. Yeah, not so healthy...

@Becca-I sometimes long for conveience food like that. We just haven't had it. Then I recently started shopping in Thailand and they are starting to have it. I got all excited and was about to buy it and then remembered that I don't actually want to feed that kind of stuff! It's been so long since it was an option I had forgotten the down side!

@IJLY-I wish Nava was still into sauce and cheese! You can do so much with that!

Rene-I love that Sushi is a picky eaters favorite! Gotta love it. I wish bread was an option for us...